1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a novel composition and use thereof for insect control. More particularly, the invention relates to a composition of (Z)-11-tetradecen-1-ol and (Z)-9-dodecen-1-ol acetate and use of the composition as an attractant, disruptant, and monitoring agent for the apple ermine moth.
2. Description of the Art
The apple ermine moth (Yponomeuta malinellus Zeller) is a member of a European group of small ermine moths (Yponomeuta) which have been studied in recent years in order to clarify taxonomic and evolutionary relationships among species within this genus. This group consists of nine species, of which five are classified as members of the "Padellus complex" (Wiebes, Neth. J. Zool. 26: 440 (1975)). The padellus complex consists of Y. padellus, Y. cagnagellus, Y. mahalebellus, Y. malinellus (apple ermine moth), and Y. rorellus. The other four species are Y. evonymellus, Y. irrorellus, Y. plumbellus, and Y. vigintipunctatus. Species of the padellus complex are difficult to distinguish morphologically, and other features such as feeding preference and sex pheromones may be used for positive identification (van der Pers and den Otter, Journal of Insect Physiology 24: 337-343 (1978)). In flight tunnel and field tests, attractants have been established for seven of the nine species of small ermine moths. The two species for which attractants have not been established are the apple ermine moth and Y. mahalebellus. Each of the species of small ermine moth studied showed a species-specific sex pheromone. Lofstedt et al. (Nature 323: 621-623 (1986)) reported that identified European small ermine moth sex pheromones were multi-component (2-8 compounds). Each pheromone varied as to number, proportion, and type of compounds present. Compounds identified as components of the sex pheromone gland amongst seven of the species are (Z)- and (E)-11-tetradecen-1-ol acetate, (Z)- and (E)-11-tetradecen-1-ol, tetradecyl acetate, (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol acetate, hexadecyl acetate, tetradecan-1-ol.
Previously several attempts to discover the sex pheromone of the apple ermine moth have been carried out. From flight tunnel tests, Hendrikse, Physiological Entomology 11: 159-169 (1986), found that apple ermine moth males flew upwind to Y. evonymellus females, but terminated response when about 20 cm from them. In measurements of electrophysiological responses to model compounds of single sensilla trichodea on the antennae of male apple ermine moths, van der Pers and den Otter, supra, reported the strongest response was obtained from (Z)-11-tetradecen-1-ol, and moderate responses were obtained from (Z)-11-tetradecen-1-ol acetate, (E)-11-tetradecen-1-ol acetate, and (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-ol acetate. The investigators reported that of the five species of Yponomeuta studied [Y. cagnagellus, Y. padellus, Y. rorellus, apple ermine moth (all belonging to the padellus-complex) and Y. vigintipunctatus], the remarkably different response spectrum of the apple ermine moth suggested that of the members of the padellus-complex tested, this species diverged most in the speciation process. In an electroantennographic (EAG) profile of all the normal, monoene, 14 carbon acetates, Hendrikse et al., Med. Fac. Landbouww. Rijksuniv. Gent. 47: 493-502 (1982), reported that (Z)-11-tetradecen-1-ol acetate gave the strongest response. Although a response profile for the corresponding 14 carbon alcohols or other series was not reported, they reported that (Z)-11-tetradecen-1-ol produced a stronger response than (Z)-11-tetradecen-1-ol acetate. In single cell analysis which measures the response of only one receptor cell of the antennae, they found the strongest response from (Z)-11-tetradecen-1-ol and obtained moderate responses from (Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadien-1-ol acetate, (Z)-11-tetradecen-1-ol acetate, (Z)-11-tetradecenal, (Z)-11-tridecen-1-ol acetate, (Z)-9-tridecen-1-ol acetate, and (Z)-9-dodecen-1-ol acetate. In field studies of chemicals that inhibit codling moth (Laspeyresia pomonella L.) attraction, Arn et al. (Experientia 30: 1142-1143 (1974)) found that some apple ermine moths were also caught in traps baited with (Z)-11-tetradecen-1-ol acetate. Stockel (Agronomie 1:355-358 (1981)) reported that Yponomeuta moths were captured in traps baited with a mixture of (Z)- and (E)-11-tetradecen-1-ol acetate (97:3 Z:E). He believed the captured species to be either the apple ermine moth or Y. padellus.
Ermine moths occur in beth Europe and Asia. Interest in the apple ermine moth has increased because of its accidental introduction into British Columbia, Canada in the 1980s and its subsequent spread into Washington State, USA. An effective attractant is needed to detect and monitor populations of apple ermine moths to prevent its spread into commercial apple orchards in Washington State and other apple growing areas in the United States where the pest does not yet occur.